She is currently researching the impact of drug policies on prison overcrowding in Southeast Asia for the UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights.
Her research, advocacy and activism have been largely focused on key areas such as custodial violence, transitional justice, penal policy and prison reform, militarization, gender and Tamil nationalism.
[13][14] During her tenure as the She was the Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission, she conceptualized and led the first ever national study of prisons in Sri Lanka.
[17] She also pointed out the influence of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism and militarization over the takeover of lands in North and East parts of Sri Lanka which belongs to Tamilians.
She was alleged by foreign ministry for having hidden agendas by spreading false information and accused her of being part of LTTE propaganda.
[19][20][21] However, Ambika hit back at the foreign ministry's statements calling it as derogatory and condemned the continuous negligence and ignorance of the authorities regarding the human rights in Sri Lanka.